RE: [Killietalk] Feeding Brine Shrimp

[Scott Davis <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

> George wrote:  I would suggest the tank on the right
for the grow out tank.

Chris wrote:
> You may be right George.  This is the first time
> that I've tried this. I don't expect a crash from
simply having the shrimp in the green water, though...
 

Hi Chris,

George beat me to the reply last time. But I think
what he is driving at is that the brine shrimp (or
Daphnia too) will bloom to the point where it will
clean out the greenwater. Then you have no greenwater
to feed the b.s. and will have to provide other food.

One of the reasons I prefer raising daphnia to brine
shrimp (aside from the delights of salt creep) is that
the entire process is freshwater and the greenwater
more conveniently is fed, though I'm sure a small
freshwater influx into a large brine shrimp culture
wouldn't be too jarring. Gerhard Kallus gave me my
Daphnia culture back when Reagan was a rookie
President, so I don't think there are too many
pathogens in it.

One of the more intriguing Daphnia machines was Romeo
Mura's set up, off to the side of his killie room. He
had a 55 gallon tank on a stand over a 35 (plus or
minus) tank. The lower and less voluminous tank housed
couple large male Central American cichlid males, who
provided prodigious quantities of droppings. The tank
was well lit and looked like the Chicago River on St.
Patrick's Day. One could just as easily populate such
a tank with the killies many of us keep in an odds and
ends tank.

The 55 was full of Daphnia, probably Gerhard's strain.
Every day Romeo could take 15 gallons of greenwater
out of the cichlid tank. He first removed a
corresponding amount of water from the Daphnia tank,
feeding or returning the Daphnia in such a way to keep
that culture blooming without crashing.

Romeo also lit the top tank. James Langhammer has
suggested a 24/7 nightlight/moon so the Daphnia don't
pack themselves into a corner and suffocate some of
their compatriots. Always wonder about dark ponds. ;)

Jim Thomerson explained that the protists, which make
up the greenwater, could reproduce so explosively that
they can double their numbers daily and effectively
deal with large removals of the culture. A long
running "grinner" in the hobby is the saga of
hobbyists trying to get rid of greenwater, using the
time honored massive daily water changes (which works
pretty well in staving out convention algae) only get
greener cultures.

Breeding or grow-out groups of killies, rainbows or
Goodieds work well with Greenwater cultures. (The
greenwater also keeps ammonia levels down.) However
every now and then an egg or small fry will get drawn
off with the greenwater and a few weeks later the much
larger adult will have to be removed from the Daphnia
culture. (Suppose a brine shrimp culture would
"defend" against that.)

At any rate, putting a b.s. culture in your tank to
the right is not to preserve your b.s. culture, but to
keep the greenwater going. Then you can supplement the
crustacean cultures with liquid reef tank food won at
club raffles at your leisure.

It is amazing the number of organic items which can be
used to feed crustacean cultures. Rosario LaCorte
spoke at Michiana several years ago and mentioned the
proverbial forgotten bucket of b.s. rinsings in the
back yard. It was so productive that it becamse a
regular fixture for some time. He fed them old
cardboard boxes!

All the best!
Scott

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